Page 58 - Print 21 Magazine Jan-Feb 2019
P. 58

Publishing
Doris Prodanovic
Less gloom, more boom
for next gen journalism
The government has just announced a $60m package to help prepare young journalists for today’s 24-hour news cycle. Doris Prodanovic speaks with acclaimed Australian journalist and author Ita Buttrose AO, OBE, about the past and future of the profession, and how previous training habits of the trade can benefit the next generation.
To ask a young journalist to write 120 words per minute today, you will hear the dull, timbre taps of fingertips to glass. They will likely have a bachelor’s degree to affirm their knowledge of the field, alongside a culmination
of contributor bylines and unpaid internships, and be social media savvy. The skills and training, for young journalists entering the newsroom has shifted immensely over the decades. As award winning Australian journalist, author, and businesswoman Ita Buttrose reflects more than 50 years on from her own start, shorthand was more likely to improve her grading than a degree.
“You didn’t need to have a university degree to be a cadet [journalist],” says Buttrose, who started her career as a copy girl at The Australian Women’s Weekly at 15, and later followed as
a cadet at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. Lectures were not in a classroom but in the newsroom. Cadets would be trained in all processes of journalism and publishing, including legal matters – such as defamation – production, typing, page make up, and variety of news rounds, all of which Buttrose believes are not as available today.
“The training isn’t as thorough and you don’t get the diversity we used
to get,” she says. “There needs to be a dedicated training programme where young journalists can meet with senior journalists and get advice. I used to go out and do stories on weekends with senior journalists just to learn and see them in action...as a young reporter, you need to do as much as possible and learn as much as possible.”
58 Print21 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
Quality is king
Buttrose quickly rose to senior positions in her 20s and 30s. She was the first woman appointed editor-in-chief of a major Australian metropolitan newspaper for both The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, the youngest editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly, and the founding editor of Cleo magazine. Although Buttrose has now shifted closer towards television and writing
books in the latter part of her
career, her affection, execution, and understanding of quality journalism in newspapers and magazines remains. She believes the life and challenges for print media today is in creating content and a product that cannot be delivered anywhere else.
“It’s content that sells everything we do, and it always will be the driver of future publishing,” says Buttrose. “It sells newspapers, magazines, it’s finding how to grab the attention
of your audience on any platform. Success will grow from there. Niche titles are doing this the best at the moment. Magazines need to realise they can no longer be all things for all people, they need to be specific in the market they are going after.”
Trust and truth
Over the past decade, audience trust in journalism has had a tumultuous journey, caused by the unpredictability in the news and media environment. Technology, social media and the idea of fake news have questioned the credibility of journalists and publications more than ever, but these challenges have
made the industry more resilient. The adaptability to a 24/7 news cycle is a balanced combination of
the old school founding pillars of
the profession with the new age expected instantaneity resulted
from everyday tech. Not only is the increase of paid subscriptions to mastheads demonstrating a public want for quality journalism, but perhaps the newfound government funding to support smaller publishers and Australia’s future journalists signals the reignited need for truth
in our rapid, content-consuming world. The government now has a Regional and Small Publishers Jobs and Innovation Package worth $60m to roll out over the next three years, including funding for cadetships and tertiary scholarships to support the next generation of journalists, and reinforce the strength and importance of journalism and media.
“We are supposed to write about the truth. We are supposed to write using factual information...we’re supposed to be the people who chronicle history,” says Buttrose. “It’s a privilege to be a journalist to write stories of humour and heartbreak, stories about leaders who inspire
us and ordinary people who do extraordinary things, and that’s why we need to protect this profession.”
And which young journalist would not be inspired by that? 21


































































































   56   57   58   59   60